Thomas p



No Model.)

T. P. MARSTON.

FOLDING BED.

Patented Oct. 20, 1885.

N. PETERS Photo'Lilhngmphur. Wnhingion. D4 0.

UNrrnn STATES PATENT @rrrcra THOMAS P. MARSTON, OF NFAV YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO \VILLIAM T. SALTER, OF SAME PLACE.

FOLDING BED.

SPECIFICATEGIE forming part of Letters Patent No. 328,698, dated October 20, 1885.

Application filed September 19, 1884. Serial No. 143,456. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, THOMAS P. Mans'roN, of New York city, in the county and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Folding Beds, of which the following is a specification.

Vhat is known as the pleasant dreams bed, invented by XVilliam T. Salter, is now made with a shield or rigid screen mounted on what is the under side when in use and the front side when the bed is folded up. Such screen serves the important function of presenting a neat and rich appearance instead of the unsightly parts which are ordinarily exposed when the bed is folded into the elevated position. My invention may apply to that or to any analogous construction. I provide a hinged screen peculiarly connected, so that it shall sag at the mid-length when the bed is in use and allow ample ventilation between the mattress and screen. XVhen the bed is folded or changed into the upright position, the two parts of the screen come into line with each other and form a continuous screen, presenting the appearance which proves so attractive a feature of the pleasant dreams bed.

I have applied movable sides to my bed. They are in the form of wide boards, carved, if desired, to present a rich and ornamental appearance. They are connected to the frame in such manner and are so acted on by certain stops or projections provided for the purpose that the side boards are allowed to descend by gravity when the bed is brought into the horizontal position for use, and are thus out of the way; but when the bed is raised into the upright position these boards are, as the bed is raised, moved upward and backward, so that when the bed is quite up these boards form a neat finish at the sides or edges of the bed. In short, my beds present the same neat appearance at each edge or side face that the pleasant dreams bed does at the bottom or front face.

Iprovide a frame having woven wire or analogous elastic material stretched across it of just sufficient size to fit within the bedstead and rest this frame on the longitudinal springs of the Salter bedstead in such a manner that the weight coming on the outer ends of said springs exerts a force to aid in supporting- (and tending to raise) the woven wire at proper points nearer the center of the bed. I provide means for firmly holding down the frame of the woven-wire mattress and for adjusting the position thereof. I mount a looking-glass in a suitable frame, so suspended on the bedstead that it will hang at the proper angle and serve its ordinary useful purposes when the bedstead is in the upright position. It is out of the way when the bed is down in the position for use.

The following is a description of what I consider the best means of carrying out the invention.

The accompanying drawings form a part of this specification.

Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section showing the bed extended for use. Fig. 2 is a corresponding section showing the bed elevated or folded out of the way. Fig. 3 is a front elevation corresponding to Fig. 2. Figs. at, 5, and 6 show details detached. Fig. 4 is a front view. Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section, and Fig. 6 is a crosssection.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures where they occur.

A A are the legs or supports near the head. B is the main framing, and Oihe legs near the foot. The legs A are hinged to B at a, and the legs 0 are hinged toB at c. The two legs A Aone on each side-havc each a wide foot, as shown. The two are connected by a bar, a. The two legs 0 Conc on each side are also connected by a transverse bar, 0. This latter brace performs the function not only of stiffening the legs G C, but also of supporting the looking-glass, to be described further on. There is a projection, 0 on the outer face of each leg 0, which serves an important end by acting on the adjacent side part, M, when the bed is raised and thelegs 0 drop into a vertical position.

IV and X are two similar and equal portions of an extended screen. They are hinged together on the line 10 at about the mid-length of the bed.

I will describe the parts when the bed is in the folded or upright position.

ICO

X is the upper and NV the lower part. The part X is hinged to the frame along the line or. The part W is connected by pivots Y to arms A on the legs A. These pivots Y are by this means held in such position that when thebed is folded into the upright position they are within the framing B.

When the bed is in the folded or upright position,the screen V X hangs, the lower part, W, by the hinges w upon tne part X, and the part X by the hinges 00 upon the framing B at the foot, which is new the top. As the bed is letdown into the horizontal position for use, the gravity of the parts W X causes them to sag at the center to. This is accommodated by the relative ehangeof position of the pivots Y. When the bed is down, the hinges x at the foot are nearer to the pivots Y than when the bed is up. [The two hinged parts W and X are therefore drawn taut when the bed is up; but considerably slackened so as to accommodate-in fact, com pel-the sagging in the middle when the bed is down. This sagging providesa considerable space under the middle part of the bed, which is important tor ventilation.

On the outer face of each of the sides of the frame B are two pins or small cylindrical projections, D, each having a head, D.

M M are side boards tastily curved at their upper edges to present a decorative appearance, and of sufficient width or depth to completely shield and form a finish for each side of the bed when the latter is folded or turned into the upright position. On the inner face of each board are transverse grooves m m, each partially covered by a slotted plate of metal, N a, the slot at in the plate N being of just sufficient width to receive the body of the corresponding pin D, while the groove m in thewood M is sufficiently wide and deep to accommodate the head D". On the outer face of each leg A is a projection, a". The parts are so engaged together that when the body is lowered from the upright into the horizon- .tal position the side boards, M, may sink down by gravity and beccme of little effect. They only serve to partly screen the space underneath. The gracefully curved upper edge of each also serves to form a finish for the sides of the bed.

As the bed is raised from the horizontal to the vertical position the stops or projections a, each-pressing gently against the lower edge ofthe adjacent side board, M, near the head or bottom, press the same upward and backward. At the same time the legs 0, hanging down, press theirseveral proj ectionsp", against the bottom edge of the adjacent side board, M, near the foot or top, and press that end of the board back. Subject to these two forces, the boards M move backward, doing so by the traversing of the slots n and grooves m on the pins D D. WVhen the bed is quite up in the vertical position, the boards M are clear back, and the sides of the bed are shielded and concealed by the boards M, while the bottom and front of the bed is shielded by thepanels or hinged screen W X.

Fis the frame of a looking-glass, containing a suitable glass and back. It may be made highly decorative, and may, if preferred, be of considerable weight. Its back is equipped with hooks f, arranged as shown. When the bed is in the upright position with the legs 0 hanging down, the looking'glass F may be elevated and its hooks f engaged with the crossbar 0. the proper inclination. portant and attractive feature of the roomfurniture. 7

B B are stout cross-bars of steel or other suitable material, fixed strongly in the frame B. E E E are springs of hard-brass wire or other suitable material. The portion E of each is coiled by hand or by machinery, as shown, and applied around one of the bars B. The springs atone end may, if preferred, be entirely disconnected from the springs at the opposite end; but I prefer to connect them by a continuous length of the same or another piece of metal, as indicated by E.

'G is a rectangular frame, of hard wood or other suitable material, of such dimensions as to fitwithin the frame B. It supports a web of strong elastic material, 9, which I will describe as woven wire. The frame G, with its web 9, may be the ordinary Well-known woven-wire mattress. This mattress G g is inserted in the framing B after the springs E E E and their longitudinal connections E are in place on the bars B. The frame G presses on the outer ends of the arms E of each spring. The pressure there exerted tends to rock the spring E E E 011 its center E and thus to elevate the inner arms and with them the longitudinal connecting part E. This gives a nearly uniform support to the entire woven-wire mattress.

I provide means for pressing down the frame G upon the outer arms, E of these springs. It is sufficient at one end (the foot) to press the frame G down by inserting therein simple wood-screws. The other end (the head) may be similarly pressed down; but I prefer to employ means which allow a facility of adj usting.

H are screw bolts inserted through the frame G and carrying thumb-nuts H, which engage below short metallic arms B screwed or otherwise firmly mounted on the under side of the framing B. There should be notches in the panel I to receive the bolts H, one notch for each bolt. By turning thethumbnuts H the frame G may be held down with more force or with less force upon the CIOSS-.'

bars B, thereby modifying the force with which the arms E and the connecting. lengths E of the springs are raised to support the bed.

It will be understood that there may be on I the woven-wire mattress G 9 any desired thickness of ordinary mattress, preferably a thin hair mattress.

Modifications may be made in the forms and In this position its gravity holds it at It constitutes an improportions without departing from the principle or sacrificing the advantages of the invention. The panels WV X, and even the side boards, M, may be made very thin by employing cross-veneers of wood properly glued together and nicely finished. Suitable panels may be made in whole or in part of papiermach. The side boards, M, and also the panels XV X may be open work.

A roller may be mounted on each pin a and 0 which will allow it to exert the considerable pressure required against the side board without any considerable friction.

I claim as my invention 1. In a folding bed, the equal or substantially equal panels WV X, hinged together and to the movable framing at x and connected at the lower or head end to the stationary standards by pivots Y, whereby the said panels are drawn taut when the bed is up and slackened when the bed is lowered for use, all substantially'as herein specified.

2. In a folding bed, the side boards, M M, arranged to serve as side screens, in combination with the main framing B and with the hinged panels \V X, folding between said side boards, as herein specified.

8. In a folding bed, the sides M, grooved as shown, in combination with the framing B, having pins D D, and with projections a c on the legs, arranged for joint operation, as herein specified.

4. In a folding bed, the frame B and springs E E E, arranged to rock on the cross-bars B, in combination with each other and with the frame G and web 9, stretched thereon, the latter arranged to press on the outer arms, E and to induce a corresponding upward pressure of the inner arms, E, against the web, as herein specified.

5. In a folding bed, the frame G, sustaining an elastic web, 9, in combination with the frame 13, crossbars B, springs E E", and with means, as H H, for adjusting the tension of the springs, as herein specified.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand, at New York city, New York, this 11th day of September, 1884, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

THOS. P. MARSTON.

Vitnesses:

M. F. BOYLE, CHARLES R. SEARLE. 

